A return to Real Madrid as first-team coach figures at some point on Rafael Benítez's career map but the Liverpool manager, his contract unsigned and his employers irritated as a result, has insisted his future at Anfield must not be determined on the outcome of the Champions League tie against the club he supported as a child.

Benítez revisits the Bernabéu Stadium where he served 16 years as a player, youth-team coach and assistant manager, with Europe again appearing Liverpool's most likely salvation given the seven-point gap that Manchester United have established at the top of the Premier League. The Spaniard will make a late decision on Steven Gerrard's availability to face Real Madrid, the captain having taken part in a light training session at the stadium last night, and will take advice from Liverpool's medical team and influential midfielder before finalising his plans.

Victory over two legs would enhance Benítez's reputation at the expense of a club that still covets his services. Defeat, however, will only intensify the scrutiny on his long-term position, particularly given his reluctance to commit to a new deal at Anfield almost four months after negotiations began.

"I don't think this game is important for my contract. It is an important game for us as a club, that's it," said the Liverpool manager. "You know the situation and we have to wait. We have a lot of important games coming up. You have to judge a manager on his career, not one or two games. That is my idea. If you have to decide on a manager on the basis of one or two games that is not the best decision."

Benítez refused to be drawn on whether he would consider any offer to return to Real and preferred to discuss an opponent in resurgent form, but one that has not reached the quarter-finals since 2004. "They have 11 good players and are very dangerous so it is more important to focus on them than other things," he said.

"They are my friends here and I have good memories with them. The delegate on the door is the same delegate as when I was here as a player and a coach. But I am a professional so I want to win with my team. It is just about winning a Champions League game against a top side in Europe."

Jamie Carragher, who would captain the side in Gerrard's absence, insisted Liverpool could copewithout the midfielder. "When we won the Champions League in 2005 there were plenty of games when Steven Gerrard didn't play but obviously we are a better team with him in it," said the defender. Carragher's pressingconcern tonight will be curtailing the remarkable form of Raúl, the leading goalscorer in Champions League historywith 64 goals and now in Real's history having taken his total to 311 against Real Betis on Saturday and having surpassed the great Alfredo di Stefano's record.

"To play for Real Madrid so long, a club where there is constant pressure and criticism like at Liverpool, shows outstanding quality and character," said Carragher. "People were writing him off a few years ago but he has come back and broken Di Stefano's record, one of the greatest players ever. When you think of Real Madrid now you think of Raúl, in the same way as you think of Steven Gerrard when you mention Liver­pool. It will be a privilege to be on the same pitch as him."

The tie presents Juande Ramos, the Real coach, with an opportunity to repair a reputation damaged in English eyes by his inglorious 12-month spell at Tottenham Hotspur, although his standing remains elevated in Spain. Real are tonight seeking a 10th successive victory under a coach who is only under contract at the Bernabéu until the summer. "I don't think I have to prove anything," insisted Ramos. "I have been coaching for a long time and people know what I have done as a coach. I am just happy that things are going well for Real Madrid."

Such is the confidence in the Real ranks that Ramos claimed his pre-match instructions will barely touch on the threat posed by opponents who have reached two Champions League finals plus one semi-final in four seasons under Benítez. He said: "When I talk to my players, I don't talk that much about Liverpool – I talk about Real Madrid. I don't know anything about how they'll line up. The only thing I know for sure is that Liverpool will play with 11 players."

Those hoping for a defiant retort to Sir Alex Ferguson's assertion that Real have "no chance" of winning the Champions League this season were to be disappointed by Ramos' diplomacy. "I am not going to reply to Ferguson. I'm not interested in responding to him," he said.